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The government, the Bank of Greece and the other regulatory
authorities are prepared to take every necessary measure to further
shield the national economy and Greek households, Prime Minister
Costas Karamanlis assured on Monday after a meeting with economy and
finance minister George Alogoskoufis and the governor of the
country's central bank, George Provopoulos.

Karamanlis stressed that the government's policy, in the present
negative international conjuncture, focused on ensuring that the
international crisis would have the smallest possible repercussions
on Greek citizens, particularly the economically weaker strata.

The premier conceded the inevitability of impact on the Greek
economy from the international crisis, due to the rise in interest
rates and higher inflation, developments which affect households.

He pointed out, however, that the effects of the crisis in Greece,
with respect to the real economy but also in the credit sector, were
much less acute than in the other countries.

Karamanlis added, however, that there should be no complacency
despite the growth rate in the first half of the year, which he
noted was more than double that of the eurozone, given that the
fiscal margins in Greece were much smaller due to the high state
debt and high fiscal deficits, which have for decades burdened the
economy and the Greek taxpayers.